


Lost and found.

by SteveM



Series: Life after Crisis [14]
Category: Batwoman (TV 2019), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:28:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23160949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteveM/pseuds/SteveM
Summary: As Supergirl and Batwoman race to stop Alice causing devastation in Gotham they face an unexpected foe and a battle for Kara's soul.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Kate Kane
Series: Life after Crisis [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623199
Comments: 3
Kudos: 61





	1. Chapter 1

Kate cursed as she dodged away from a huge overhand right from the last Rabbit standing. The rest had been easy enough but this guy was fighting like an MMA pro and his reach advantage was giving her problems.

“Language Batwoman!” Alice chided and Kate found herself wondering, not for the first time, why Alice hadn’t just told her entire gang who Batwoman really was. Then again Kate had more or less given up figuring out how Alice worked at this point. Right now she was more concerned with getting to her and disabling the huge explosive cache they’d placed on the gas lines under Gotham. It had always been a weak spot in the city design running along the same route as the transit system with that big, tempting main hub that’d light a firestorm around the city but until now the GCPD had been more than up to the job of defending it.

She ducked again, side stepping the rib-crushing kick and running past the brute, leaping on to the steel beam behind him and using it to springboard back. She slammed a gauntlet into his nose, felt the crack and rolled away to avoid the wild retaliatory swing. This was taking far too long she though angrily. If only the Crows had been a little more careful, had prevented Alice from walking right out the front door as Ivy had terrorised the city…

“Tick tock little bat, time’s running out…” Alice teased, seemingly loving testing her sister like this. God how far gone was she, Kate thought with a shudder. She’d killed, yes, but what was being done here was indiscriminate mass murder if she pressed the button. Was Alice capable of it? And if she was what did that mean for Beth, was there any way back? She decided not to find out, not tonight.

“Now.” She whispered and threw a leaping punch that staggered the man backwards leaving him a perfect target for Supergirl to swoop in and one-shot him.

“GCPD and the Crow HQ are secured.” Supergirl said almost casually. “Just one last loose end to tidy up.”

“Nah-ah little bluebird, you stay right there…” Alice said, waving a finger at Supergirl like she was a naughty five year old. “I’ve got five rabbits watching this rooftop. You move so much as an inch and they’ll blow the bomb. You might get a few of them but all five faster than they can let go of a deadman’s switch? I doubt it…”

Supergirl froze, her mind racing. She was fast but Alice was likely right. Maybe if she knew where they were it would be possible but without even being able to check the area first the risk was far too high.

“Beth, stop this…” Kate said, her hands at her sides as she took a half step towards her sister. “Please, come back with me, I can help you…”

“Come back with you?” Alice said with a sad smile. “You and Ms Danvers over there you mean?” She shook her head at the look of shock on Kate’s face. “Oh come on, it doesn’t take a genius to put that together if you know who lurks beneath the cowl. Though I will admit I was surprised for the first few seconds when I saw the news about you being an item through the bars of my cell. She didn’t seem at all your type, nowhere near dangerous enough. Then, *poof*, it all made sense.”

“Alice, listen to her, please.” Kara said trying to keep her voice as calm and non-threatening as she could. 

“Oh to you I’m Alice, at least one of you keeps up with current events. Must be the reporter in you.”

“Yes but from what Kate’s told me about Beth I’d really like to get the chance to meet her one day.”

“Oh spare me the ‘she’s still in you’ speech, I’ve heard it before. Too many times. And it always ends the same way… in death.”

Kate slipped a little closer but genuinely didn’t know what she could do. Taking Alice out was possible but that wouldn’t stop the bomb being detonated. Still if she could just get within striking range…

“Mostly I heard it from my dear, darling sister who took her twin - a woman she knew spent almost two decades locked away mind you - and shoved her right back in a cell!” Alice laughed and the sound was ugly and empty. “And she wonders why she’s never been able to get through when she’s so *sure* she just needs to find the right magic words to set her free.”

“You know the funny thing, Kara? I can call you Kara can’t I, oh of course I can, I mean we’re almost family now and Kate can tell you all about me and the family she… acquires along the way. So, yes, the funny thing Kara is all she ever had to do was ask! Isn’t that right Kate?” 

Alice spun around and rolled her eyes at Kate’s stealthy approach. “All you had to do was ask and I’d tell you. One word, that’s all it is, one word from you and this horrible, perverted corruption of your sister would melt away like a wicked witch in a rainstorm. Do you want to know, Kate? Do you want to know what that word is?”

Kate glanced at Kara and saw the tiny nod. It wasn’t like they had any other option right now and Alice might let something slip. 

“Please, tell me.” She said trying to sound sincere. 

Alice smiled and spread her arms wide. “Boom!”

The explosion was instant and the heroes snapped round to see the volcano of fire erupt and race away, following the gas line. 

“GO!” Kate cried and with a thunderclap Supergirl took to the skies, hurtling after the speeding inferno, racing the end of the world. She pushed as hard as she could, the world around her seeming to slow down and freeze as she carved through the air. Everything was working against her, the speed of the explosion, helped along by the high pressure system feeding it. The short distance, the head start it had enjoyed, all of it conspired to thwart her. She cried out as she demanded more, stretched her powers and she was overtaking it! She was almost there… but so was the explosion! Coming closer with terrifying speed was the main hub distribution point and she just didn’t have distance to get in front, land and stop the explosion. She needed more time, there had to be more, something else she hadn’t called on. She sought for every scrap of power in her… and something she hadn’t realised rode within her stirred, called to her, beckoned her into the storm.

A white flash of lightning seared across her vision and suddenly it was all so… easy. She felt like she was gliding in a calm sky as she slid smoothly forward, the explosion suddenly a frozen bloom behind her. She landed gracefully, turned and sucked in a breath. She blew a gale force wind back the way she’d come, snuffing out the flames even as her hands came together in a thunderclap, driving away the oxygen feeding it and creating a temporary firebreak. So sudden and violent was the combination she saw the explosion almost flinch away from her before scattering into nothing. The world sped up, returned to normal and suddenly she was more tired than she’d ever been in her life.

She dropped to one knee then collapsed forward, catching herself on her hands, breathing hard. She lost track of time as the world swum around her, looked up to see a black shape hurtling towards her down the cracked and shattered street. Saw Kate land and race towards her, calling her name, a hand outstretched… and everything went white.

Kate fell through the spot where Kara had been and looked around wildly. “Kara?” She whispered the word, fear suddenly clutching her heart in a death grip. Where was she… she couldn’t have just vanished, that didn’t happen. Her breath caught and she found herself gasping for air, hands shaking. Calm down she thought, she’ll be okay, she’s Supergirl, she’s walked on the sun and survived, she’s fine. But something strange had happened, she’d seen the white lightning burst behind Kara, the same lightning she and the rest of the world had seen blanket the globe when Lex had tried to take over and Kara had flown faster than light to stop him. When she’d…

Suddenly there was a burst of yellow lightning and The Flash was standing beside her. The fear mounted, threatened to turn into panic but she forced it back.

“Flash, what are you doing here?”


	2. Chapter 2

“Something… something happened with the Speed Force.” He said, trying to figure out what on earth he’d just stepped into. “I felt it somehow and this was where it happened.”

“Barry…” Kate dropped her voice to a whisper. “Kara just vanished in front of my eyes.”

Barry Allen’s face went white under the cowl. “What did she do? Just before that what did she do?”

“She was… she was chasing an explosion. I saw white lightning flicker. She caught it, stopped it then vanished.”

Barry stared at the spot Kate was pointing at and swallowed. He seemed to be having difficulty speaking but Kate was in no mood to indulge him. “Barry, what’s wrong. What happened to Kara!”

“I think… I think she entered the Speed Force.”

“What? How!”

“I don’t know, there shouldn’t be, I mean, it shouldn’t be possible! I took my speed back, removed the connection!”

“Work it out later. Can you follow her?”

“Yes. Maybe, I think so.”

“Then take me to her.”

“No! You wouldn’t survi…”

“Flash.” Suddenly it was Batwoman not Kate Kane talking and Barry Allen actually took a step back “This is not the time to tell me what I can and can’t do. The woman I love needs me. I am going to help her. There is no other option here.”

Reluctantly Barry nodded and picked Batwoman up in his arms. “Hang on.” He said and then the world went crazy. All Kate saw was a blur of buildings and streets, wide open spaces and then ocean beneath their feet as Barry accelerated to speeds she could barely comprehend. His lighting crackled around them almost as if it were angry with his passenger. It earthed on her suit and she hissed in pain but ignored it. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. Nothing but Kara.

Faster and faster he ran and Kate felt her senses start to pull away from her as if the sheer speed was shredding her to pieces. The world stretched out and compressed, ballooning horribly like she was hurtling through a demonic funhouse hall of mirrors. She caught glimpses of people frozen still, their heartbeats locked forever as they raced by, the world growing colder as everything shaded to blue then grey then black… She hung on to the Scarlet Speedster, her fingers locked in a death grip around his neck, her head rolling on her neck as the natural order of the world got turned upside down.

Then, miraculously, they arrived… somewhere. Barry placed her gently on the ground but there was no detail to be seen, just a brilliant blinding white light stretching off in all directions. And there, her back turned to them, was Kara! She was dressed differently, a black outfit and cape with blood red accents and the cut of her hair had changed but it was Kara!

Kate reached out but before she could touch her Kara seemed to notice her and turned to face her. Kate’s blood ran cold. She didn’t recognise the woman standing before her. Oh she looked identical to her wife but the eyes… the eyes were cold and hard with none of the compassion and love that burned so brightly in Kara Danvers.

“Who are you?” Kate asked carefully.

“Kara Zor-El.” Even the voice was the same yet there was something… off about it. A pitch, a harmonic that set Kate’s teeth on edge.

“No. No you’re not.”

“Oh but I am. Or I was. And will be again.” The woman smiled and Kate shuddered. The same smile she knew so well but twisted, threatening rather than calming. 

“Barry….?” 

“I… I’m not sure.”

“Yes you are Flash. Yes you are.” The blonde said. “You know exactly who I am, you just don’t want to tell her.”

“Barry, this is not the time to worry about bad news.” Kate said, her eyes locked on the imposter before her.

“She’s… she’s Overgirl. Kara Zor-El from Earth-X. Nazi universe, basically. But she exploded in Supergirl’s arms, how can she.. uh, you be here!”

Overgirl smirked and gave a small bow. “Thank Kara Danvers for being a hero.” She said sardonically. “And thank you for opening her path to the Speed Force. You shouldn’t have done that, not to her. Anyone else yes but she… or should that be me… has power you can’t imagine. Once she found the door she could use it again even if she didn’t mean to. And without your speed to protect her she lost herself. And there are so many of her to be lost in.”

“Barry, what the hell is she talking about?” Kate snapped.

“The Speed Force is more than just power, more than just moving fast.” Barry said, thinking at the speed of light. “It connects the multiverse, or at least it did before Crisis. I guess it might be possible it still does.”

“Well done!” Overgirl laughed giving him a slow clap. “Got there in the eaaaaaHHHHH!” 

Suddenly she screamed, her outline blurring and in a heartbeat she was gone, the familiar blue and red clad figure of Kara Danvers replacing her. She looked around confused, exhausted, as if she’d been fighting for a lifetime. She saw Kate and stepped back. Kate felt her heart break and slowly moved a hand towards her wife only for her to shake her head and almost leap backwards.

“No! Kate no, I can’t, not again, you’ll die, I’ll kill you, not again, no!”

“Kara. Kara it’s okay, it’s me…” Kate whispered. 

“No, no it can’t be, you’re safe! No.. no you died… so many times you died… couldn’t… “

“Kara, focus. Concentrate on the moment.” Barry said, his voice surprisingly calm. The Girl of Steel looked up as if noticing him for the first time.

“Barry? Barry you’re here? But how…”

“I’m here. So is Kate. We’re both here, we’re both alive and we’re bringing you home. Come back to us.”

“Back…?” Kara sobbed and Kate reached for her again, restraining herself to only offer her hand, not sweep her into her arms and never let go which was very much her desire at that moment. While she still didn’t reach for Kate this time Kara held her ground rather than retreating.

“I… I don’t know where back is…. Don’t know the way. So many ways, so many me’s… so many….”

“I know, but trust us now. Trust Kate.”

“Kara I promised you that you’d never have to face the world alone again. I meant it. I’m here.”

Suddenly Kara focused, finally looking right at her wife. “Kate I’m trying but… but it’s too much. I can’t find anything to hang on to! I… nnnnnoooAAAAHHHHHHH!”

Another blink and Overgirl was back, panting but looking satisfied. She glanced up and without warning slammed her heat vision into Barry, flipping him back into the white void and he vanished leaving Kate all alone with this twisted image of Kara.

“Poor little Kara.” She laughed. “Lost her way and left a hole in the universe. Since everything collapsed there’s only been one Kara Zor-El… but the Speed Force remembers and through it we live. All the other Kara’s, all the countless versions that were, could have been and could be again. But they’re weak and so is she. Almost done now, almost lost forever. And when she is I’ll step back into that hole, live again.” She cast an apprising look up and down Kate then sneered. 

“If you ask nicely I might even take you back with me. You’d make a good pet, little Bat. And you deserve far more punishment than eternity here for how you perverted poor Kara Danvers.”

“Perverted!” Kate snapped, her hand snagging a razor-sharp Batarang from her belt. “There’s nothing perverted about Kara or what we have. The perversion is you, just look at you! Look at what you could have been, the difference you could have made! Instead you wear that symbol and revel in your power and where did that get you? Beaten by the better woman and dead by your own ambition.”

“Poor last words Kate.” Overgirl said with a happy smile. “It’s been so long since I got to enjoy snuffing out life with my own two hands. It’s a shame you’re all alone here, I could do with the practice!”

She launched herself forward, blurring as she reached for Kate’s neck… but not because she was moving quickly, Kate realised! She looked to the side and saw Barry reaching out, his fingers touching her shoulder, his lightning crackling around them. In his element and unleashed, a virtual god here, controlling the Speed Force not just riding it. 

“Whatever you’re going to do, do it now!” He hissed, the effort clear on his face. Kate looked back at the slowly approaching Overgirl, her mind racing. Kara had said she couldn’t focus, that she needed an anchor, something to hang on to…

It hit her like a sledgehammer and she ripped off the cowl. “Barry, help me out of this suit!” She snapped and to his credit the Flash didn’t question her order, moving with her to strip off the carbon kevlar body armour from the waist up until she was left in the undershirt. She reached up and tore the collar away, exposing her throat and reached up with the Batarang.

When she had been kicked out of the academy she’d gotten the tattoo that trailed across the left side of her throat. Her heart broken as Kelly had thrown her away, her skills and talents considered irrelevant to the military because of who she was she’d had her own name etched on her skin, across the link between her head and her heart. A reminder to herself that she could rely on that sense of self, that it was worth fighting for no matter the isolation it brought. That she could survive alone.

Now with a care that seemed impossible under the circumstances she used the cutting edge of her weapon to carve the most important words of her life on her own flesh. Red marks, blood spilling down her arm, mirroring the ink on the left side. Just as her life had changed then so it had changed once more but this time for the better. For the first time since she’d lost her sister she was whole again, moving through the universe with her the other half of her soul. She finished the words, threw the weapon down and stepped away from Barry. His fingers slipped from her shoulder, time returned to normal and she angled her throat to let Overgirl’s fingers close around the only words that mattered to Kate Kane.

Kara Danvers.

There was a shriek of pain and betrayal from Overgirl as power coursed through them both. For an instant she vanished to be replaced with Kara, Kate’s Kara! They swapped again and again, hands locked around Kate’s throat, Overgirl trying to throttle her, Kara trying to let go. Overgirl snapped back into view, snarling like a cornered animal only to recoil as in a very confusing moment both of the battling Kara’s seemed to be in the same place at once, Kara Danvers swinging a right hand with the force of a comet and punching Overgirl away. She hurled into the white void and vanished, Kara pulling Kate into her arms.

“You found me!”

“I’ll always find you. No matter what. No matter where.” Kate replied, tears falling as she held her wife for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. 

Around them the blinding white void rippled and once again Barry winked out of view, replaced with an army of Supergirls. 

“I take it this isn’t over?” Kate asked.

“No. There’s so many of me here… so much death and pain and loss.” Kara started to shake and Kate could think of nothing to do but kiss her. There was a hiss from the multitude and they seemed to pause as if frightened. 

“You’re the only one that’s coming back.” Kate said firmly. “Even if I have to kick your collective asses to do it!”

Kara laughed as they spun to form up back to back, fists raised. The army of Supergirl’s hesitated then raced forward, more like a zombie hoard than the woman Kate knew, all of them intoxicated by the prospect of life. The fight was joined and to her dying day Kate never managed to recall it clearly.

She saw countless Kara’s so close to hers they were almost identical. Heroes standing tall over their potential realities, protecting them, so much like the woman she loved as to be almost identical. Others were so different as to be virtually unrecognisable. A younger, teenage version in a short blue skirt and white crop top. A mid-20’s woman in an outfit closer to Kara’s usual colour scheme but with the same crop top design and barely enough fabric to cover her modesty. One in full armour, a visor over her eyes and sword in her hand that Kate ducked out of the way of for Kara, her Kara, to sucker punch the woman.

Kara heard Kate grunting with effort and drew strength from the feeling of her pressed up against her back. How could she have lost her, doubted her even for a second, even with the infinite possibilities of eternity pushing down on her. She swung at a version of herself wearing a tight body suit cut away on her right shoulder, an S logo emblazoned on a red sash around her waist and swore she heard a Russian accent as she fell. Another popped up, this time clothed in pink and silver but Kara was letting fly with her full strength now as she found herself rooted once more to her time and place and the newcomer dropped in a heartbeat.

She saw herself with wings of fire, a teenager leaping from an enormous motorbike with the dust of a ravaged earth falling from her boots, a shape-shifting artificial being and countless others. One by one they fell as Kara Danvers fought for her existence alongside the woman she loved.

Suddenly Barry burst into being between the two of them, ducking under a punch from a headband-sporting Kara, his hand snatching something from the ground. “Time to go!” he yelled and Supergirl scooped Batwoman up with her right arm while her left took Barry’s offered hand. The world blurred, shattered and froze, white shards glistening around them, an ethereal light bouncing off the strange scene in a haunting but beautiful glow. Kara looked behind them and stared as one last doppelgänger raced after them.

Her face was contorted with rage, her body clothed in red and black, a red domino mask over her eyes. Her hands reached out with curled fingers, grasping for life as fire vomited from her mouth and a deafening echoing heartbeat thudded through this broken, twisted realm. Kara couldn’t look away, the dreadful creature with her face coming closer and closer just as the others had yet this felt different. Not an alternative version or wild possibility but an echo, a memory… no, she thought with dull horror, not a memory. A promise. A prophecy.

Then the glow faded, the speed force dissolved around them and all three crashed back to the Gotham street they’d started from. It felt like months had passed but the first cop car was only just arriving on the scene. It had to have been minute at most, Kate thought, her head swimming. Suddenly she was flying into the night, Kara making an executive decision not to leave her facing the cops in her current state. They landed on a nearby roof and Kara pushed Kate into the shadows, making sure they hadn’t been spotted. 

She noticed the look Kate was giving her and blushed despite herself. “What? What is it?” She asked, trying to cover her reaction.

“Just thinking….” Kate said and her voice was soft. 

“About?”

“About how I couldn’t possibly have found anyone better than you no matter how hard I looked. And unlike most I can prove that!”

Kara laughed and went to kiss her wife only for a finger to slip on to her lips and stop her dead.

“And you learnt something too.” Kate pointed out, trying to ignore the ridiculously cute shocked look on Kara’s face.

“What might that be?” The Girl of Steel asked impatiently. 

“That if you can trust me around a leather-clad you then you can trust me with anyone!”

Kara laughed and Kate pulled the finger away, letting Kara dive in for a kiss that felt like the first breath of air after a deep dive. As hands started to move over each other’s bodies and the kissing grew more heated Kate couldn’t resist teasing Kara just a little…

“And the one in the swimsuit was pretty damn cute too.”

“Jailbait much?”

“Crop tops look good on you…”

“Not exactly practical.”

“Boob window was nice.”

“Let’s never mention that again.”

“Russian is a good look on you!”

“Eta ochen’ mila s Vashey starany.”

“Leather’s definitely worth exploring though.”

“Well I do owe you for saving my soul so that seems fair….”

As the last word faded Kara snagged Kate around the waist and blasted up into the sky, angling hard over towards Wayne Tower, Kate’s apartment and, most importantly, the very big bed that awaited them.


	3. Chapter 3

The wedding of Kate Kane and Kara Danvers ended up being front page news across the country. Kate hated to admit it but she could sort of understand why. After all they were, officially, the first same-sex Jewish marriage in Gotham and both of them were significant enough public figures to warrant at least some interest. Though it took Sara Lance pointing out that both parties were also model-level beautiful for that particular side of the public interest in them to sink in.

Still that didn’t mean they had to let the world in on their day and thanks to Kara’s very public working relationships with Supergirl and Batwoman both heroes leant a hand working security and discouraging any paparazzi who were feeling particularly brave. Granted said heroes were actually a shape-shifted J’onn and a Batsuit-wearing Alex but there was no way to spot the difference, at least not so long as there wasn’t an actual emergency. 

By the time the ceremony itself had started the Crows took over and both stand-ins could slip away to join the festivities as themselves though not before letting a photographer capture a quick snap of them congratulating the happy couple of course. After all the chance to further distance their civilian and hero identities was too good an opportunity to pass up. As it happened the picture also managed to capture the new tattoo on the right side of Kate’s neck, two words written in a careful script, the ink rising and falling as it traced the thin scars on her skin as if using them as a template.

The ceremony itself was an odd mix of traditional Jewish ceremony running headlong into Kate’s stubborn streak. Kara had made it clear from the start she was quite happy to take whatever role Kate wanted her to. After all this day, while very much theirs, was about Kate’s culture not hers. But Kate was insistent that Kara not be the ‘wife’ on the day. Quite aside from anything else it would be ridiculous for Kate Kane to have the contractual “responsibility” of protecting her bride when said bride could bench press a mountain. Kara had briefly argued until Kate had employed finger quotes to emphasise the point then given in with some good natured grumbling.

As the ketubah contract was part of civil law they still had to have one and they’d gotten around the problem by writing it as a mutual pact. Those who read it knowing the full lives of the happy couple had to hide a smile at the double meanings twisting around every line. Hope and courage were front and centre but they were certainly appropriate themes and Jacob Kane considered them more than appropriate for his daughter. Far trickier had been a suitable design to surround the text with neither woman feeling the traditional styles were quite right. It had been Nia who’d solved that one, coming up with a twisting line that looped around and doubled back on itself, shifting from light to dark but with the darkness always surrounded by light and the pattern set against a star field.

The procession to the Chuppah was one moment where Kara did insist on Kate taking the role of ‘groom’ and going first. Jacob walked her down the aisle alone, the space for her mother left empty out of respect for her father and his all too recent loss. Kara followed, Eliza on one side and J’onn on the other and her smile lit the room. Both women wore suits though neither wore a Kippah. Around Kate’s neck hung a small garnet pendant, her birthstone and her way of bringing Beth with her. Kara wore a necklace too but hers was a small crystal that glowed gently. To a casual eye it could be just catching the light and they covered such an unusual touch by Eliza explaining it had been in the family for generations, its origins lost to time. But in truth it was a crystal from the Fortress, a tiny piece of Krypton born here on Earth, a keepsake of her home world to take with her as she built her new home with Kate.

Other than both women circling each other rather than the bride circling the groom the rest of the ceremony more or less followed the expected customs. The rings, however, weren’t quite the traditional metal bands. Oh they were plain and unadorned but neither were made of gold, silver or even platinum. Kate had made Kara’s out of an unremarkable black metal, hints of red gleaming through when it caught the light. It was undoubtedly beautiful and somehow seemed appropriate for a ring from Kate Kane but she was grateful beyond words that Barry had thought to scoop up the Batarang she’d used to mark herself as Kara’s in the Speedforce. Kara had to fight back tears as it was slipped on to her finger, instantly recognising it for what it was.

In turn Kara presented Kate with a silver band that seemed to shimmer with rainbow highlights. She’d made it herself alone in the arctic, the Northern Lights dancing above as she worked he metal with her heat vision and bare hands. Not that she had much of a choice as there likely wasn’t a metallurgist on Earth that could make a dent in the stuff. Kate recognised the material straight away and at a quick questioning look Kara nodded confirmation. Part of her pod, Kate realised, part of her impossible journey here to this time, this place. Now Kate was struggling to keep her emotions in check and her father had to scramble to hide his shock at seeing her so open and vulnerable. Shock, yes, but happiness too he thought with a small, private smile. If this reporter could make his little girl not just happy but at peace with herself then there was no doubt they were destined for each other.

Together Kate and Kara broke the glass, though both were also holding back giggles at the thought of Batwoman and Supergirl using a cloth bag to protect themselves from a couple of glass shards. With cries of Mazel Tov ringing in their ears they were led to a small private room to have their first meal together. That, too, had been tricky until Alex had suggested Eliza provide a chocolate pecan pie which Kara had previously informed Kate was the best desert in the galaxy from personal and thorough experience. It wasn’t quite chocolate chip cookies from Grandma but somehow it seemed right, bringing the two halves of the family together. Not to mention the look of ecstasy on Kara’s face which as far as Kate was concerned made it a perfect moment.

As the last crumbs slipped from forks Kate looked at her wife with an expression Kara couldn’t quite place. As she hadn’t swallowed the final mouthful she raised an eyebrow and Kate grinned.

“Sorry, just thinking.”

Kara waved her fork in the air, reluctant to rush this last taste.

“It’s just… for so long I never even thought about something like this.”

“About getting married?”

“About finding someone to share my life with.”

Kara’s face broke into a soppy smile and Kate laughed. “And then you came along and changed my whole world. Made sense of the chaos, took away the pain, made… made me happy.” 

“Want to know a secret?” Kara said quietly and Kate wiggled closer, lending in like a little kid being let into a great conspiracy. “When I got supercharged for our fight on Apokolips I talked to my uncle or, at least, a computer simulation of him. He asked me if I’d made the same links here on Earth as Kal and I was honest with him. No, it always felt like an alien planet, like I was loved but didn’t fit. And then I met you. I found love, I found a home. Not a place but a person. And I can’t imagine my world without you in it.”

By the time she finished talking they were both crying, the moment sweeping them away as Kara pulled Kate into an embrace. The rest of the world didn’t matter, not for a moment anyway, and they just sat silently, listening to their heartbeats mixing, beating as one. Kate reached up and gently brushed the remains of a tear from Kara’s cheek.

“Happy tears?” She asked with a soft smile.

“Happy tears.” Kara confirmed, repeating the gesture on Kate’s face. “You?”

“Very much happy tears.” Kate confirmed. “Who’d have thought I’d still get emotional when marrying you for a second time?”

“You better get emotional the hundredth time!” Kara teased. “Talking of, I think we’re expected outside and Alex promised to drag out asses out of here if she thought we were neglecting our guests.”

“Married five minutes and already trouble with the in-laws.” Kate said laughing. “As she’d probably do just that let’s save her the trouble. Just remember no flying during the Hora, okay?”

“Yeah yeah, I know.” Kara grumbled.

They emerged to a sea of smiling faces, their friends and family surrounding them with well wishes and congratulations. Later that night as they were lifted up on their chairs and spun through the Hora, their hands holding onto a handkerchief they both shared the same thought. This was where they were meant to be, each loving and protecting the other no matter what. Let the universe throw whatever it wanted at them, at their home. They’d be ready for it.

**Author's Note:**

> And that draws a line under this particular series! Thank you so much for coming along for the ride, I hope you've enjoyed it and it's been a blast putting it together. Really hope I did this justice (my knowledge of Jewish ceremonies is a wee bit rusty). Even by the standards of recent entries there's a ton of comic nods in here, one of which might just give a hint as to where I'm thinking of going with the next series. Seriously though if anyone gets all of the different Supergirl references here then congratulations, you too have spent entirely too much on comics over the years. Come join the club, we have low interest loan plans available to all our members.
> 
> Oh and someone in a previous entry asked for more Alice. Don't worry, you're not being short changed but I wanted to keep her back for what's churning away in my head. Consider this a...preview.
> 
> One other thing that I hope isn't too over the top here. Originally I'd thought of going a bit darker but with everything happening in the world as I wrote this it just didn't feel right. Hopefully it can bring a little light into a dark place for someone that needs it. Time like this I'm rather glad to be playing around in a universe built on hope, help and compassion for all.


End file.
